this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: snow, ice and strong winds are expected to buffer the uk into the new year — weather warnings are issued for icy conditions across parts of scotland and northern england. labour peer lord adonis resigns as the government's infrastructure chief, with a scathing attack on theresa may for her handling of brexit. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the final day of trading. 12 people — including four children — have died in a blaze at an apartment block in the bronx. new york's fire commissioner says it was caused by a child playing with a stove. also this hour: the dog who's had pioneering treatment to save a leg from amputation. scientists at glasgow university will now begin trials to see whether a newly—discovered technique for regrowing bone tissue will work on humans. sir bruce forsyth, liz dawn and sir roger moore — just a few of those who left us this year, and whose lives are celebrated in review 2017: we remember.

that's in half an hour. snow and ice have led to another day of travel disruption in parts of the uk. passengers at glasgow airport faced delays, after heavy snow caused flights to be suspended for a while. there was snow too across northern england and the southern pennines. the rac has warned that driving conditions will be very difficult, if not impossible, in the worst—affected areas. our correspondent judith moritz reports. grounded at glasgow — flights at the city's airport were suspended after snow settled quickly overnight. the airport reopened by mid—morning, but managers have apologised for the knock—on disruption which was caused. temperatures plummeted to as low as minus 12 celsius in scotland. the ploughs were out,

shovelling industrial quantities of snow on the m90 motorway near dunfermline, though it wasn't enough to keep all drivers on the road. in towns and villages nearby, the spades were out to clear the way. she's just come in for a packet of cigarettes, and she's decided to clear my front path away, and that's community spirit for you. people have been helping pushing cars up the street. heavy snow also fell in the north of england, where a hundred gritters were sent out onto the road network to keep traffic moving. motorways remained free—flowing, but other trans—pennine routes were closed. the snow has been falling steadily all morning across swathes of northern england — as predicted. it's been settling most in areas like this, just outside huddersfield, up here on the higher ground. in cumbria, hazardous

conditions left some vehicles stranded on the a590, and there were also delays on other main roads. staff at the highways england control room in wakefield have been monitoring the motorways and a—roads. the next thing we're looking towards is the threat of ice for this evening and overnight, we've got teams of gritters working 21w, traffic officers patrolling the network as well, and obviously a team here in yorkshire and the north east working from the control room to make sure that that impact‘s not too severe. drivers are advised only to travel if necessary, but traffic is lighter than usual, with schools closed and many off work for the holidays. enjoying extra opportunity for snow—themed entertainment. judith moritz, bbc news, wakefield. our correspondent lisa summers is in edinburgh and gave us this update. the rest of the snow has now passed, but the worry overnight is going to be icy conditions, with temperatures dropping rapidly

even here in the city. further ahead, we have warnings of heavy rain in the south of england. in scotland, the concern will be about high winds. we have a high wind warning in place for hogmanay, and as you can see, edinburgh is busy at this time of year. 150,000 people are due to participate in a three—day hogmanay festival that starts tomorrow. things like a torchlight procession, a street party, a nine minute firework display, all those things depend on it not being too windy. 0rganisers will have a keen eye on the weather forecast over the next couple of days. i have been told they are expecting the winds to die down during the course of hogmanay, so hopefully, we can enjoy new year without too much trouble from the weather. the government's infrastructure adviser lord adonis has announced he is quitting his role, with a furious attack on theresa may's brexit policy. in his resignation letter he said brexit was a "populist and nationalist spasm" and accused the pm of "pursuing a course

fraught with danger". he also described the eu withdrawal bill as the "worst legislation of my lifetime". the former labour transport secretary is a high—profile campaigner against brexit. he has chaired the national infrastructure commission since 2015. 0ur political correspondent, ben wright, is here. we got a taste of what he said but what else has he said? it is a long letter, about a thousand words. it is an excoriating attack on the government's brexit strategy. he talks of the government hurtling towards the eu exit door with no credible plan. he says future generations of children will look backin generations of children will look back in horror at a government that has done this and will be trying to get us back into the eu in coming yea rs. get us back into the eu in coming years. these are not surprise then to months from lord adonis, who of

all parliamentarians has been perhaps the most vocal in criticising brexit. he thinks it's a national calamity, he is appalled that the whole idea and is calling for a second referendum. that is not labour's position. so he is at odds with his party and certainly with the government. 0n brexit, certainly, he has been, him being an adviser and holding these views has seemed increasingly impossible, and one government source said he has decided to jump today before he was pushed. why now would this be coming toa pushed. why now would this be coming to a head? a couple of reasons. on brexit, he says he intends to oppose the eu withdrawal bill relentlessly from the labour benches in the house of lords. that has just gone through the commons and arrives in the lords in the new year and he intends to be absolutely on the barricades in the house of lords, trying to amend the bill and throw as much sand in the

wheels of brexit as possible, putting down an amendment such as calling for a second eu referendum, trying to get support from peers in other parties. perhaps he thinks he wa nts to other parties. perhaps he thinks he wants to be freed of any infrastructure responsibilities and does not want anything to do with this independent body advising the government on infrastructure plans. a specific reason mentioned in the letter is the government's recent decision to bail out the east coast rail franchise, decision to bail out the east coast railfranchise, stagecoach decision to bail out the east coast rail franchise, stagecoach and virgin trains, which run the franchise, allowing them to get out of the contracts three years early, i think. this announcement was made in november by chris grayling, transport secretary. he says it is com pletely transport secretary. he says it is completely wrong and will cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions. he is arguing it should be nationalised, as it was when he was transport secretary. so he has a big criticism about that, but the overriding reason, i think, about that, but the overriding reason, ithink, is about that, but the overriding reason, i think, is a fundamentally, profoundly different view of brexit

to the government. thank you. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10.1i0pm and ii.30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur tonight are jason beattie, head of politics at the daily mirror, and tim stanley from the daily telegraph. and we expect the papers to be dominated by the new year's honour‘s list which will be published at 10.30pm tonight. we'll bring you all the highlights as soon as the names are officially revealed. anti—government protests have spread to more cities in iran, despite a crackdown by the authorities. thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest over rising prices, corruption and the cost of iran's military involvement in regional conflicts. wyre davies reports. these are extremely rare sights. cities across iran hit by large and sometimes violent anti—government protests. this is the western city of kermanshah, and despite the repressive action taken against demonstrators by police, the protests have

quickly grown, and spread across the country. iranians have suffered tremendous hardship, with a huge fall in living standards over the last decade. but what started as a protest against rising prices has grown into much wider anger against strict clerical rule and iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. demonstrators demand in that political prisoners should be freed, and the government should stop spending millions on foreign wars. there is seething discontent with iranians spending money on wars abroad, on spreading shia'ism abroad, on supporting hezbollah abroad, and that has changed the character of the demonstration into a political one, undermining the whole clerical regime. iran's relatively moderate president

hassan rouhani has promised the benefits of economic growth, after an international deal to limit its nuclear activities, but those promises have so far failed to materialise. britain will be watching developments closely. on a recent visit, the foreign secretary borisjohnson raised the detention of the british woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, held in an iranianjailfor more than 600 days. it's become a serious issue between london and tehran. it's too early to say if the regime is under serious threat. these are the biggest protests in iran for almost a decade and the government will use greater force if it feels it's losing control. wyre davies, bbc news. joining me now is senior writer at the wall streetjournal and expert in iranian affairs, farnaz fassihi. thank you forjoining us on bbc

news. what, for you, makes these demonstrations particularly significant? i think the combination of economic and political grievances, together with the fact that this has now spread from the middle class and upper class, educated class, to working—class and unions, makes it tick khalili significant. the fact that it is also targeting not just significant. the fact that it is also targeting notjust the regime, the supreme leader and the forces, but also the government, the president, and asking him to deliver on his promises of social freedom and economic prosperity. how widespread are the protests becoming? they are spreading like wildfire. they started in a north—eastern city and then went to the bigger cities, and now we are seeing small cities and even religious cities, like the bedrock

of the clerical regime and the shia hierarchy today, erupting in demonstrations against the regime. the conditions people are protesting about have been growing for some time but what seems to have been the tipping point to have brought people onto the streets? the spark seems to have been inflation, unemployment and rising prices and the falling of the iranians currency against the dollar. iranians were hoping that after the nuclear deal with world powers they would see the lifting of sanctions, foreign investment. some of that has happened but it takes time to impact the economy in a meaningful way. so people have not really seen the benefits of that trickle—down to their tables. and they are fed up. and combined with they are fed up. and combined with the fact that president rouhani's hands seem to be tied and he can't really deliver on social freedom and freedom for students and political prisoners. we have to remember that

the regime cracks down, it successfully killed the 2009 protest, but public is looking for every crack to come out and be heard, to come to the streets and say, we are still here and still angry. who are the politicians capitalising on this? the politicians capitalising on this are some of the hardliners. former president mahmoud ahmadinejad in a jazz been, ironically, a vocal critic in recent weeks. —— has been a vocal critic in recent weeks. the opposition leader is also under house arrest, and his supporters. so you really see a colourful and different factions coming together. 0ther different factions coming together. other than clamping down hard on the demonstrations, what might the authorities do to mollify protesters ? authorities do to mollify protesters? the authorities can do a

lot of things. they can allow president rouhani to carry out some of his promises of social reform, and opening. they can sort of limit the hands of the revolutionary guard investment and businesses, so foreigners and foreign companies can feel more confident investing in iran. they can perhaps scale down their influence in places like syria and lebanon, which has been very costly for iran in terms of sanctions and animosity. but it hasn't been the style and the precedent of the authorities to really listen to what people want and to cave in to their demands. the style a nd and to cave in to their demands. the style and the precedent seems to be to crack down as forcefully as you can, crush it, make sure it does not tip things over, and then wait until the next time that things erupt. and it isa the next time that things erupt. and it is a powderkeg, and sooner or

later something will have to give him. thank you very much for your time. in the city, the 100 share index has finished trading for the year, on a record closing high. it ended the day up 7.6% on last year. earlier our business correspondent joe lynam explained to us how the stock market going up can be good news in the long term for those paying in to pension funds. the vast majority of people out there do not have a portfolio of shares. what they do have without even knowing about it at a pension fund which invests in these shares. so if you are saving for your retirement, and most adults are, they will be invested in the ftse 100. they will be invested in the dowjones and certain stocks. that means that in a few years' time when they retire, they will yield some of those benefits. but for now, the majority of people will see no major benefits to the ftse 100 reaching an all—time record high. the new york fire department says the blaze that killed 12 people,

including four children, in the bronx area of the city, appears to have been caused by a child playing with a stove. investigators believe an unattended three—year—old boy accidentally started the blaze, described as the deadliest in the city for at least 25 years. the city's fire commissioner said the child had been unsupervised at the time. authorities in the indian city of mumbai have launched an inquiry, after a huge fire at an office and restaurant complex killed at least 1a people. the blaze erupted just after midnight in the popular kamala mills restaurant and shopping compound, and engulfed the structure within half an hour. most of the victims are thought to be young women who were attending a birthday party. the independent police complaints commission says a former surrey police officer who investigated jimmy savile would have faced questions of professional misconduct over his role, had he still been a serving officer. savile, who died in 2011, was revealed to have abused hundreds of mainly women and girls. the report into surrey police's investigation of allegations of sexual offences byjimmy savile at duncroft school in the 1970s, found that the officer had failed to pass on details of an alleged

indecent assault by savile at stoke mandeville hospital. the headlines: the headlines: the met office issues a weather warning for ice across parts of scotla nd warning for ice across parts of scotland and northern england. the labour peer lord adonis resigns as the government's infrastructure chief, with a scathing attack on theresa may for her handling of brexit. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the year's final day of trading. now for a round—up from the sports centre. good evening. i am told the sky in melbourne is clear ahead of the final day in the fourth ashes test, so england's cricketers should still have a chance of winning if the

bowlers can find their best form. rain stopped play on day four with australia trailing england by 61 runs. patrick geary reports. at last for england, some hope, a chance to cheer without lurking fear, to read and not weep. why isn't alastair cook on the front cover? that score remained correct. cook's third day of batting lasted one ball. he watched it, jimmy anderson hit it, cameron bancroft caught it. cook carried his bat unbeaten — a lesson in focus and patience. england needed to bowl in a similarfashion. waiting worked initially. they removed cameron bancroft, then produced enough movement to tempt usman khawaja. england were still nearly 100 ahead and making the best of a wearing ball. they, like australia, were warned about scuffing the ball on the pitch, but some on australian television made more serious accusations, to england's obvious irritation. as soon as i saw the headlines, i raced into the umpires, and that was their words, actually — "nothing to worry about, absolutely fine. " england's next obstacle was australia's rock. steve smith reached the boundary only occasionally.

england shut off the taps but couldn't dry everything up. showers turned to storms, play finished at three. well, england denied by very english conditions at the mcg. they are the only side with a realistic chance of winning this test, and the weather on the final day looks far clearer. but the continuing presence of the australian captain steve smith at the crease is a dark cloud still looming over them. patrick geary, bbc news, melbourne. it is fifth against third in the premiership rugby tonight, bath hosting wasps. the visitors have made a great start with two tries, and then one from dan robson making it 19-0 and then one from dan robson making it 19—0 after 20 minutes. wasps will move into second if they win. tee games in the championship this evening. cardiff city could go second with a win or draw against preston. 0—0 in that match and

m illwa ll preston. 0—0 in that match and millwall against qpr also goalless. liverpool managerjurgen klopp says it was not nice paying £75 million for southampton defender virgil van dijk, but there was little choice, he said. the dutchman will become the world's most expensive defender when the transfer window opens next month. it does not mean all tra nsfers month. it does not mean all transfers will now be in this category. but it's the same as before, half a year ago it was a big tra nsfer before, half a year ago it was a big transfer for before, half a year ago it was a big transferfor an before, half a year ago it was a big transfer for an offensive player and now we have one for a defensive player and its round about a third of it, how it always was. that's it. not nice, but that is the market, thatis not nice, but that is the market, that is the world. we have two adapter. that's how it is. andy murray has made his long—awaited comeback from a hip injury, playing an exhibition match

in abu dhabi. the briton was a last—minute replacement for novak djokovic, who has had to delay his return from an elbow problem. murray lost the first four games, not looking his physical best, and ended up looking his physical best, and ended up losing the set 6—2. it was his first competitive match since wimbledon. djokovic, meanwhile, could be a doubt for the australian open. another sensational performance from jamie lewis at the world darts championship in alexandra palace. he is through to the semifinals after whitewashing darren webster 5—0. he had a ready beaten the second seed peter wright to reach the quarterfinals and will now face phil taylor or gary anderson in the last four. they are playing shortly. news on that match and all the rest of the sport in sportsday at half past ten. police investigating the death of a woman in north london over the christmas period have renewed their appeal for information from the public. the body of iuliana tudos — who was 22 and originally from moscow, but had lived in london for some years — was discovered

on wednesday in finsbury park. police say iuliana — who was also known asjulia and lili — died of a stab wound to the abdomen and a head injury. it is believed she was attacked on christmas eve. no arrests have been made and a crime scene remains in place at the location. two men have been charged with terrorism offences by police who had been investigating a suspected christmas attack plot. 31—year—old andi sami star, from chesterfield, and 22—year—old farhad salah from sheffield have been detained by detectives on charges of engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism. they appeared by video—link before london's westminster magistrates‘ court. at least 12 people have been killed in two separate attacks on coptic christians in egypt. two shop owners were shot dead inside their premises in helwan district, south of the capital cairo. ten people were killed in a separate gun attack on mar mina church in the same district. over the past year more than 100 christians have been killed in bombings and shootings in egypt. police believe it's "likely" a missing student from norfolk,

who vanished from her home early on boxing day, entered the sea. coastal searches are continuing for 21—year—old sophie smith from gorleston , who suffers from severe anxiety and depression. the coastguard and a police helicopter have been searching the suffolk coast as our correspondent mike liggins reports. it is relatively calm here this evening but the weather today has been absolutely dreadful. high wind and heavy rain led to the cancellation of the search organised on facebook. but despite the weather, people have still been searching for sophie smith. a coastguard team from lowestoft arrived to continue a search of the shoreline. four coastguard teams have searched from winterton in the north to lowestoft in the south.

groups and individuals have also been out today. we met two, who say they have looked everywhere. we have looked into lowestoft, yarmouth, caistor areas. it has been hard but we won't give up. have many people been out looking? there were over 200 people here last night, gathering about, doing groups. some we re gathering about, doing groups. some were out in the sea. a police helicopter flew down the coast this morning, while in the town centre missing posters are everywhere. a fine sophie smith facebook page now has close to 20,000 members. fine sophie smith facebook page now has close to 20,000 memberslj fine sophie smith facebook page now has close to 20,000 members. i would like to thank the police and the rescue services for the coordination and the searches that have been done. it has been phenomenal, and the public response from friends and family on facebook and other social media. sophie smith went missing from her home in the early hours of

boxing day. norfolk police say she had been receiving treatment for anxiety and depression, and it's possible that sophie went into the sea. however, the search for sophie goes on, with friends and family still hoping that she might be found alive. researchers in scotland, who saved the leg of a dog using a new technique to grow bones in a laboratory, say they now hope to try it on human beings. the dog, eva, would have had her leg amputated had it not been for this pioneering treatment. the team at glasgow university say the first human trials are due to take place in three years' time. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has this exclusive report. eva! there's no holding her back, but last year eva's front right leg was broken in a road accident. her vet tried everything, but nothing worked. her entire leg was going to be amputated. well, nine, ten months, she'd been unable to get out and have walks, anything other than go out

to the toilet. but to fiona kirkland's delight, her dog was saved by an experimental bone—growing technique. it's absolutely fantastic. we're just so pleased to have our dog back, fit, active, healthy. eva's vet showed me the problem. the blood supply to the edges of the bones has failed, so it wasn't able to heal the break. the scientists coated the dead areas with their artificial bone, and afterjust six weeks, it was completely mended. the artificial bone mix was made at glasgow university. it consists of sterilised chips that are coated with bone cells and a chemical that make them grow, rather like a fertiliser. well, clearly, we want to look at treating more dogs and possibly even cats who have had broken bones, but also other areas we can help these veterinary patients, so things like joint fusion, where they've had a tendon injury and they need theirjoint held

together so they can walk properly. the researchers are so amazed at the success they've had in treating eva they want to try out the technique on people. they plan to be the first researchers in the world to grow bone in their lab and put it into a patient in three years' time. and these are the people that could be most helped. it's 20 years since princess diana brought the issue of landmine victims to the world's attention. their limbs usually have to be amputated. landmine campaigners are funding the new research so it can be used to grow some of their bone back and attach an artificial leg. well, if they are able to have a prosthetic limb, it would make all the difference to their life, being able to provide for their family, instead of having to be a burden on their family. it's been a happy outcome for eva and her owners. thousands of people could soon

benefit from a technology that has put a spring back in her step. pallab ghosh, bbc news, glasgow. newly—released national archives' files have revealed that margaret thatcher once refused to share a flight to washington with london zoo's giant panda. lord zuckerman, president of the london zoological society, suggested that chia chia the panda could share the prime minister's concorde flight in 1981. washington's smithsonian institution had asked to borrow chia chia, to mate it with us—based ching ching. but mrs thatcher said pandas were not " happy omens" for politicians. i love that that has been under wraps. the weather forecast now.

turning less wintry but not a lot quieter through the weekend. still a lot going on with outbreaks of rain spreading from the west overnight. hill snow for wales and the north of england. a little smile at low—level is in northern ireland. generally speaking, mild air from is in northern ireland. generally speaking, mild airfrom the is in northern ireland. generally speaking, mild air from the south. still chilly across scotland and north england tomorrow morning. through tomorrow, this is and patchy rain with hill snow across scotland will continue to move north. to the south of that, brighter skies and a scattering of showers. 0n the south coast, some rain, but very mild. 13 degrees in the south west. into new year's eve, very heavy rain towards the south—east. strong wind at first, too. gayle ‘s great time across northern ireland and scotland, and then a mixture of sunshine and showers. at midnight, clear skies for many but a few

showers in the west. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. weather warnings for ice are in place across parts of northern england and scotland following heavy snow and blizzard conditions. glasgow airport has reopened, after suspending flights earlier today. the government's infrastructure adviser resigns over the handling of brexit. lord adonis says theresa may is "pursuing a course fraught with danger" over the uk's eu departure. the uk stock market reaches a record high on the year's final day the uk stock market reaches a record high on the year's final day of trading. the ftse 100 finished up 7.6 percent compared with the last day of trading in 2016. and 12 people, including four children, have been killed after fire swept through an apartment block in the bronx. the blaze is the deadliest in the city for 25 years,